Colorado Law Blog

Effective January 1, 2008 every automobile insurance policy in Colorado will be improved by a new Colorado Insurance Law which will help insureds receive the coverage that they pay for if injured by an uninsured driver.   This new law will effect the important auto accident coverage known as uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage (UM/UIM).

UM/UIM coverage is the coverage you purchase in order to protect yourself and your family if you are the victim of a car accident and the person who caused the accident doesn’t have insurance or hase too little insurance to pay for the injuries and losses that they caused.

 Read the Changed to the Auto Accident Insurance Coverage Law Here

Before January 1, 2008 an insurance company could refuse to pay the full coverage under an insured’s policy through an “offset” of the amount paid by the at-fault driver’s insurance company.  Insurance companies were also able to use language in their policies that prevented an insured who had multiple cars and multiple policies to add, or “stack,” their own insurance.  This meant that seriously injured people in this state could not benefit from all of the coverage that they purchased.  The new law makes UM “setoff” and stacking provisions illegal for policies issued or renewed in Colorado as of January 1, 2008.  This important change in Colorado law means that you will finally get full coverage that you paid for.

Carrie Frank, a member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association, worked with others to make sure that Colorado drivers get the full benefit of the insurance coverage that they purchased.